An expert on motor insurance says people do not know where €1bn of their policy premium income a year is going.

Motor insurance premiums have risen by 35% since January 2014, prompting calls for a new taskforce to examine issues such as fraud and transparency in the industry.

In 1998, the now-disbanded Motor Insurance Advisory Board (MIAB) was established.

Over a 10-year period, it helped to reduce insurance premiums by up to 40%.

The AA - which is also an insurance provider - says industry transparency, regulatory changes and zero tolerance for fraud are required to tackle the issue of spiraling motor insurance costs.

Dorothea Dowling is former chairperson of the MIAB. She told Newstalk Breakfast there is a complete lack of transparency - and accountability - in the sector.

"There's no government department or minister responsible for ensuring that charges are equitable" she said.

"The important thing for consumers to know is that there's nobody out there protecting them - they therefore must not renew without review, you have got to shop around".

"Loyalty is not automatically awarded, don't think that", she cautions.

She says before any of this can be fixed "the first thing we need is to properly define the problem".

But she warns the numbers 'just don't add up'.

"There is nothing in the public domain which explains where one billion (euro) a year of policy holder's money is going".

"We can see how much is awarded by the PIAB, we can see how much is awarded by the courts - but we don't know where one billion of our policy holder premium income every year is going - now we need to know that".

Listen to her full interview below: